Because of the Wonderful Things He Does
by roberre
Summary: How Galinda managed to get her hands on an official Ozian document describing the Wizard’s agenda, Elphaba had no idea. Maybe she didn’t even want to know. Twoshot, musicalverse. Fiyeraba, set after Popular and before One Short Day.
1. Part One: We're Off to See the Wizard

**A/N:**

**THIS STORY WAS WRITTEN FOR MY FRIEND ASHEH!**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHEH!**

**Disclaimer: The usual, with fries on the side.**

" Ooh! ElphieElphieElphieElphieELPHIE!"

Her ears ringing from the sudden onslaught of incredibly noisy name-calling, Elphaba moaned, rolling away from the source of the disturbance.

" WAKE UP!"

She wished desperately that Galinda would shut up. Usually an early-riser herself, Elphaba had, on many occasions, been forced to act as a human alarm clock for her bubbly friend… but that didn't give Miss Snooty little Upland an excuse to scream at her at such an ungodly hour, especially on a Saturday morning. In fact, it strained credulity to even begin to believe that the other was actually awake. Perhaps she had recorded her voice on one of her fancy gadgets, set it to go off at a specific time, and was now sleeping soundly with a pair of those large fluffy ear-muffs blocking out all noise. Elphaba wouldn't have put it past her.

Then again, that might be giving her undeserved credit.

" ELPHABA!"

The bed began to tremble as ferociously as if a bomb had gone off directly beneath it. Cracking open one dark eye a fraction of an inch, Elphaba winced. Galinda had thrown open the curtains so that a stream of pure unadulterated sunlight burned into her retinas. It was excruciatingly painful. Ignoring her friend's frantic attempts to tip over her mattress, scream in her ear, blind her, and in general try to get her out of bed, Elphaba pulled her thick downy comforter over her head, and clung to her blankets for dear life.

Galinda persisted. Elphaba felt a cool rush of air on her calves as Galinda flipped the blanket off her ankles and gripped them with vice-like hands. Elphaba gripped the bed stand, trying to withstand the constant tension. She succeeded until the other gave a final great heave, and triumphed. Elphaba's fingers gave way, and she was pulled roughly off the bed, landing with a muted 'smack' on the hard wooden floor. So much for sleeping.

Now quite awake, and pumped with adrenaline from her struggle to avoid just that, Elphaba stood, towering above her pink-adorned roomie. At the moment, friend seemed to be a little too strong a word. " What do you want?" Elphaba asked slowly, clenching and unclenching her fist at her side. She grit her teeth, and prayed desperately to anyone who would listen that Galinda hadn't woken her up to go shopping. That had happened the previous weekend, and Elphaba had sworn it would be the last time.

" Get dressed," Galinda commanded, " it's a surprise!"

" I don't do surprises," Elphie growled, looking extremely unhappy in her bedraggled state of exhaustion.

Looking a little frightened, Glinda relented. " The Wizard is visiting a nearby town!"

" What?" Elphaba could hardly believe her ears.

Galinda clapped her hands, jumped up and down, and said, " The Wizard is visiting a nearby town!" She suddenly squealed, loudly, and attacked Elphaba in a gigantic hug that was so powerful that it nearly toppled them both to the floor. " I thought you'd like to know!" she cried, nearly to the point of cracking Elphaba's ribs.

Grunting with the exertion needed to free her arms, Elphaba placed her hands firmly on the slightly shorter Galinda's shoulders, and peeled her off, staring her straight in the face. " Honestly?"

Galinda nodded, looking quite smug by now. " Would I lie to you?"

Elphaba stared at her.

Galinda sighed, and tried again. " Would I wake up this early for anything less important?"

Elphaba continued to stare. The shopping incident was still fresh in her mind.

" IT'S TRUE, OKAY!" Galinda shouted, shuffling over to her bed, and kicking off her pink rabbit slippers. She practically dove beneath layers of colourful pillows and comforters, until she came up with a slip of emerald paper clutched in her first. " Look, Elphie," she commanded, shoving her hand into Elphaba's face.

Elphaba sighed, and extracted the parchment from the death-clutch Galinda had it in. Heart-pounding, she set it down on her desk nearby, and smoothed it out. Eyes still a bit grainy from sleep, or perhaps the lack of, she had difficulty making out the words, because they too were written in a shade of green. It was obviously a notice from somewhere in the Emerald City. How Galinda managed to get her hands on an official Ozian document describing the Wizard's agenda, Elphaba had no idea. Maybe she didn't even want to know.

But there, right in front of her, was a seal of authenticity.

" He's arriving at eight, and leaving at nine?" Elphaba asked softly.

Galinda nodded.

" What time is it?"

" Just after five."

" How long does it take to get there?"

Galinda chewed the inside of her lip, and stared at the ground. " Three and a half hours."

Elphaba stared at Galinda, a fire slowly kindling in her eyes. " Is there any hope?" she asked, flying to her wardrobe and picking out a deep grey frock from her minimal supply of clothing.

" Not if you're going to wear _that_, there isn't!" Galinda exclaimed, quite appalled at Elphaba's choice in attire. " This is a triumphant parade of Oz the Great and Terrible for his birthday that we're talking about, not some funeral! Put something decent on!" Galinda, who had already dressed before Elphaba had awoken, shoved her out of the way, and flung herself into Elphaba's wardrobe.

Clothes flew out in a flurry of black, grey, and blue material. A few times, the green girl had to duck out of the way of a wad of cloth flying at her head.

Finally, Galinda emerged with an ebony dress in hand, looking not altogether happy, but contented.

" You never told me you had this. It's very nice. Put it on." She jabbed a finger at Elphaba, and shoved the dress towards her.

Elphaba recoiled. " I forgot I had that, no, it's not nice, and again no, I'm not putting it on."

" It'll go good with your ugly- I mean pointy hat."

" It'll go _well, _and I'm not wearing it."

Galinda scowled. " Well then, you're not going."

Elphaba scoffed. " Excuse me?" Did this- this- pink wearing atrocity before her think that she could really deter Elphaba Thropp? She couldn't even change a frock into a ballgown for Oz sakes.

" You have no way to get there in time."

" Oh," commented Elphaba dryly, " and I suppose that you do?"

" Money is power, Elphaba, and power equals speed. I will get you there on time to see the Wizard, if you'll wear this dress. If not, then I absolutely refuse to be seen in public with you."

Narrowing her eyes, Elphaba glared at Galinda for a long minute.

" Time's a-wasting Elphie!" her friend reminded her in the most infuriating sing-song voice that had ever been heard within the borders of Oz.

Elphaba snatched the dress from the other's hands. She examined it thoroughly, then nodded with a sigh.

" I can make you up on the way," the other commented cheerily as she left the room.

" You can try," Elphaba muttered rather testily, stripping out of her black nightclothes and into the dress Galinda had chosen for her. After fighting with the laces along the side of the dress for nearly an entire minute, she stood, stalking past Galinda's full-length mirror without so much as a glance. She snatched her hat off of the hat-rack by the door, slipped on her pair of surprisingly comfortable black combat boots, and slammed open the door. " Are you happy?" She inquired, folding her arms across her chest.

Galinda examined her, up and down with a scrutinizing gaze, then wiped a tear ( Elphaba couldn't tell if it was imaginary or real ) from her sparkling blue eyes.

" What is it?"

" You look beautiful. I've done such a good job with you."

Elphaba's eyebrow rose of it's own accord. " Glad to see you're so humble," she muttered cynically.

" You could use a bit of make-up… and your hair should really be let out of that confining braid… and oh- Elphie, is that a pimple appearing?"

Scowling, Elphaba couldn't help but run a hand over her chin where Galinda was pointing. There wasn't anything there. " No," she answered, letting her hand fall as inconspicuously away from her face as possible.

" No-no, I'm absolutely sure there is one… here… come on, I'll show you." Galinda snatched Elphaba's hand, and dragged her back into the room, practically shoving her before the mirror.

" Galinda, I really don't see any-" Elphaba froze, immediately alerted to what Galinda had been plotting. There wasn't anything on her face. But here she was, in front of the mirror.

" I told you that dress would look good on you."

Elphaba stared at her reflection. She ran her hand down the side of her dress, smoothing out the wrinkles with a crease in her brow as a flood of tumultuous emotions rushed through her. The first emotion was that of irritation for having allowed her friend to con her into doing something she hated- admiring herself. The second was surprise at how the dress really did suit her and her pointed hat quite well. And the third, and final emotion, was a little bit of pride in what she saw. She did look pretty good.

Nessarose had purchased the dress a couple of years back for Elphaba for her sixteenth birthday. She had only ever worn it a handful of times at best, but hadn't had the heart to dispose of it, despite her initial dislike for the garment. It was cut a little bit- small, for her taste. Elphaba was much more comfortable in something that would cover every square inch of her repulsive green skin, rather than something like this…

Short enough that the hemline barely reached the bottom of her knees when she stood up straight, the dark material clung quite fetchingly to the curvatures of her body. It was a deep navy blue silken material on the inside, and strips of the black material were cut away to reveal the sudden flashes of colour. The neck dropped perhaps a couple of inches past her rather prominent collar bone, and was done up tightly by a piece of black leather cording woven criss-cross up her left side, exposing tiny dots of emerald green skin. The shoulders were removed from the sleeves, so that they were only attached to the rest of the dress by a small bridge of material along the shoulder blades.

Galinda snuck up behind her, and snatched the hat from her head. She held her friend in a headlock, her arm around Elphaba's neck, and furiously attacked the braid, loosening it and running a brush through it all in the same action. Just as Elphaba readied to drive her bony elbow right into the other's ribcage, Galinda released her.

" Hey!" Elphaba demanded, whirling around. " What do you think you're-" and then her friend shoved some sort of clip in the midst of her hair, and stepped back to examine her handiwork.

" There we are. Perfect. Okay, let's go."

" Come on Galinda, enough with the whole," she raised her voice to mimic Galinda's soprano squeal, "'pink goes good with green' thing." She had already suffered through that speech twice now, and she wasn't about to relive those horrid memories.

" Turn around," Galinda suggested, reaching up to grasp Elphaba's chin, and forcibly twisting it around to face the mirror.

Elphaba scowled, but couldn't exactly disagree with her friend's exquisite taste. Softening her features slightly to mirror her thoughtful attitude, Elphaba reached up, and ran her fingers over the navy blue rose that lay over her ear, fastened to her head by a black hairclip as dark as the hair it rested in. The work Galinda had so recently completed seemed to do a fantastic job at accenting Elphaba's pointed features, causing her to look a great deal more 'angular' rather than just 'sharp'.

All in all, it presented quite an appealing look.

" If you're done worshiping my stupendiferous miracle workings," Galinda said pointedly, jabbing Elphaba in the back of the shoulder blades for effect, " we should really get going. Fiyero's usually late too, but I told him we'd meet him down there fifteen minutes ago."

"Fiyero? He's coming?" Elphaba inquired, trying to fight down the sudden pounding of her heart in her throat.

Galinda nodded. " Of course."

" W- I- I can't wear this in front of him," Elphaba proclaimed, sounding a lot calmer than she felt. She immediately began to remove the clip from her hair.

" Don't worry, Elphie. He's not even going to notice _you_! He has-" Galinda giggled, and pointed to herself in a dramatic gesture, "-me!" She stepped slightly to the left, where the sun's rays bounced off the mirror to illuminate her shimmering golden locks.

Though the comment was not meant to be cruel, it cut like a knife. Elphaba knew it was to be true. Once past the initial shock of Elphaba having green skin, no-one would ever dream of looking at her over Galinda, much less _choosing _her. Sweet Oz, what was she thinking. Her mind was in a tussle with itself. She didn't want such an air headed Winkie, no matter how incredibly handsome he was; even if he did have some vague remnant of a mind left after all those late-night parties, that vague remnant wouldn't want to be seen with a green girl.

" I guess you're right, Galinda," Elphaba said resolutely, clipping the flower back where it had previously rested.

Galinda smiled, completely blissful of Elphaba's mental turmoil, and snatched up an incredibly sparkly pink purse from her bed. " Well?" she asked, " Are you coming, or what?"

" Not many people would let their friends shove random plants into their hair just to stand there for hours and watch themselves in the mirror!"

Galinda's brow creased in confusion.

Well, not many people _besides_ Galinda.

Elphaba threw up her hands in exasperation. " Just come on!" she demanded, and stormed out of the room, snatching a long black coat and throwing it over herself before Galinda was even able to protest.

**A/N:**

**Yes, it's a twoshot. So... there's another chapter. Because what's the point of getting ready to go see the Wizard without going to see the Wizard?**

**/Please/ review. It would make my day brighter. And I'm sure Asheh (yes, she exists) would like to see her friend, who went to so much trouble getting this up for her, to have lots and lots of favourable reviews. '**

**Thanks to Fae2135 as well, who's been helping me with stuff pertaining to Wicked.**


	2. Part Two A: Because Because Because!

**A/N: I think I lied on accident to you. It might not be a twoshot.**

**This will be longer than I thought. It will take up another chapter. --'**

**My hopes and dreams of writing an actual twoshot have bit the dust. **

**I haven't quite learned to ignore all the amusing ideas in my head yet, and I simply **had **to make Galinda sing the song... so this chapter came into being.**

**Plus, I put the genre as 'humour' so I figure we can have one really random pointless amusing chapter in it. My actual chapter fic will be much more serious... but I couldn't help myself on this one. **

**They will definitely get to see the Wizard in the next chapter though, I promise! And it should be more serious. **

Leaving Galinda's pink monstrosity of a private suite was always somewhat of a treat for Elphaba, and as such, she tramped down the stairs at record speed, a flurry of ebony cloth and hair. Heavy black boots pounded out her haste as she rapidly descended to the ground floor. Galinda floated behind her, drifting from step to step as lightly as if she were walking on air, though quite a bit less silently. She was humming loudly, and slightly off key.

" Do you want to hear a song I wrote?" she asked once the two of them reached the bottom.

" No."

" How about once we're en route?"

" No."

" How about we don't go then," Galinda said in the same tone as her previous questions, this time grinning smugly in a most frustrating manner.

Elphaba clenched her teeth, and turned around to her friend, a completely false smile plastered across her green features. " I would _love_ to hear your song, Galinda… in fact, I can hardly wait until we make it to the carriage."

She should have brought earplugs.

Although the thought had briefly crossed her mind on the way down the stairs, it was only now, waiting at the bottom, that Elphaba realized the extent of her unfortunate negligence. The likelihood of making it to see the Wizard alive was almost nil. Something told her that even if she did survive, she might not be able to hear for another week. Perfect.

" Come on then Elphaba, the Wizard's waiting. Follow!" Starting off towards the main doors, Galinda waved her hand emphatically to emphasize her point. Which seemed to be some notion that Elphaba would be unable to discern the general direction of their ride _without_ her most spectacular help.

Elphaba followed until they were about five steps out the door, and was then halted.

" Well, here we are," Galinda proclaimed dramatically, gesturing to a large sphere created out of metal meshing. It was perhaps ten feet in diameter, and looked like some vague attempt at modern art. The empty spaces between the mesh were shaped like small octagons, each one the approximate size of her fist, and evenly distributed across.

The greener member of the party nearly choked on her own laughter at the ridiculous spectacle in front of her. " That's funny, Galinda."

Galinda frowned. " It's not meant to be!" she said petulantly. " Get in! We're going to be late!"

" _This _is the finest transport money can buy?" Elphaba inquired, quite skeptical.

" I'll have you know that it is! It's a prototype of a machine that the Wizard himself is inventing. If I'm lying, I will put on your ugly frock."

" And-?" Elphaba asked, expecting there to be something else, like 'throw myself off the highest tower' or 'dance in the main square of the Emerald City in front of thousands'.

" And what? It doesn't need anything extra. It's more than painful enough just to _think _about-"

" Yes Galinda, most things are."

It took a moment of concentration on Galinda's part to clue in, but when she did, she was quite unhappy. " GET IN!" she roared, swinging her pink handbag around at Elphaba's head.

Elphaba ducked, and in fear for her life followed Galinda's orders and stepped through the small (equally metal mesh) doorway into the interior of the sphere. It looked as unimpressive inside as it did out.

" Isn't it lovely?"

" I could make one of these out of coat-hangers, Galinda," Elphaba commented dryly.

" Just wait," her friend commanded with a happy smile.

" Where's Fiyero?" Elphaba demanded, looking about for any sign of the man.

" Right here," came the answer as he stepped into the bubble, all but hidden under an armful of fat cushions.

" Great. We're riding in luxury, we are," Elphaba grumbled with as much sarcasm as she could muster. She removed a few of the cushions from Fiyero's grasp, and set them down. She expected them to fall through the sizable octagonal holes in the mesh, but instead the bounced slightly… rippling the air like a puddle of water. Wrinkling her brow, Elphaba jabbed her finger into one of the octagons, expecting her arm to go right through, and nearly jumping back in shock when it didn't. Instead, the air stretched as if it were a thin plastic skin, forming to her finger. She drew it back, breathless when the air snapped back into place with a rainbow of colour like a prism.

" What is it?" She asked. Now, looking over the structure, she could see that the entire thing was encased in the stuff, and that it was stretched over the ribbing like a kite.

" I call it the Bubble," Galinda responded dramatically, waving her hand about in the air.

" We're rolling around in a bubble?" Elphaba asked, feeling sick to her stomach at the thought.

" No, _the _Bubble," Galinda protested.

" And we're not rolling," Fiyero said. He began pulling a few strange looking levers and wheels from a bag slung over his back, and inserting them gently into slots in the metal ribbing. He grinned, grasping tightly to a red stick protruding from the wall of the bubble and flicking it upwards. The entire structure around them shuddered.

" Then what are we doing?" Elphaba asked, watching as Fiyero situated himself on the cushion nearest the levers and clambering onto one herself.

" Flying," he answered happily, and the ground fell away.

xxxxx

" Don't be afraid, Elphie."

" I'm not _afraid_ Galinda, I'm just apprehensive."

" What have I told you about using words like that. Stop trying to make my head explode," Galinda grumbled, wrinkling her nose with distaste. " Just admit that you're afraid."

" I'm _apprehensive._"

" EXPLODING!" Galinda protested loudly, clapping her hands to her ears.

Elphaba was too afraid to be amused. The ground was hundreds of feet below her. She was hundreds of feet above it. It was greatly unnerving.

xxxxxx

Finally, an hour into the trip, Elphaba seemed to be able to relax. They had been traveling northwards for some time now, and despite that looking down caused her stomach great displeasure, she was quite enjoying the view.

" I can see my house from here!" Galinda proclaimed suddenly, pointing downwards.

Elphaba followed the line of her finger, and scoffed. " I think that's a town, Galinda."

" No it's not. I'd know my own home anywhere."

" Whatever."

" Not whatever! Look, there's the first tower, with all my rooms. The first window on the first floor of the eastern side is where I sleep. On the same side, just one floor above, is my bathhouse. I have the third largest bath in Gilikin, you know… I don't really know what's above that… I hardly ever climb up all those stairs. I'd have to ask the servants, they clean them all the time. On the west side-"

After her ears underwent several minutes of verbal abuse, Elphaba reluctantly agreed. It wasn't a town.

Galinda changed subjects without difficulty after she felt she had described her third dining room sufficiently.

" Are you ready to hear my song now?" Glinda asked.

" Not really. And you can't threaten to not take me to see The Wizard, because I'm already in the bubble… with you…" Elphaba trailed off, shoulders slumping.

" Exactly! So you can't get away."

Stealing a look to Fiyero, who was pretending to concentrate very very hard on the small blue steering wheel beside him, Elphaba groaned.

Galinda cleared her throat and began to sing loud soprano in a fair imitation of a professional opera singer.

" We're off to see the Wizard! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz! Because because because because because!!!!!! Because-"

Elphaba interrupted. " I don't think you can have that many 'becauses' in a song."

Galinda frowned. " Yes I can. I assure you, it'll be immensely popular one day. Perhaps even the national anthem."

" It's pointless. You didn't even say why we're off to see the Wizard. All you said was because."

Galinda thought for a moment, and belted out the next line. " Because of the wonderful things he does!"

Elphaba frowned. " I don't think you can start a sentence with because, either. "

" I just did."

" Why?"

Galinda smiled, a sickly-sweet smirk of superiority. " Because."

xxxxx

Easily bored, Galinda had taken to flipping through a magazine by the second hour of the trip. It might be hours before Miss Upland would decide once again to grace the passengers of the Bubble with her attention.

Elphaba was quite glad about the silence, as it left her alone with her thoughts.

At the moment, her thoughts were those of Fiyero Tiggular..

Ever since that horrible day, when everything Elphaba had ever believed in had crashed down at her feet in the form of a lion cub in a cage, she couldn't help but feel a strange sense of regret every time she thought about her best friend's love interest.

Quite a lot of regret was available because she couldn't seem to _stop_ thinking about him.

Fiyero continually plagued her. Why? Whether genuinely self-absorbed and deeply shallow or not, he still wasn't the kind of man who would ever interest Elphaba. Surely he was handsome enough, but his mind- if he had ever been in possession of one to begin with- could never have survived the disuse and degradation he put it through. Partying through the night, acting like an airhead… spending hours with Galinda.

Against someone like Galinda, what chance did Elphaba have?

She sighed, hardly even noticing when the personification of her confusion addressed her.

"You cold?" he asked, staring at her with a bewildered expression.

" Hmm?" she asked, glancing over to him.

Fiyero was be dressed as he usually did, modeling rather tight clothing that hinted at his muscled frame despite covering every inch of skin. His tawny hair was swept back over his head like a leonine mane, feathery strands brushing glowing against his tanned skin as the hot summer sun blazed upon his masculine features.

Powerful, yet graceful fingers of his hands rested upon the controls of the bubble. His high, black boots lay nicely over his powerful calf muscles as he sat cross-legged on the pillow, and the neck of his shirt was open a little more than modesty tended to dictate.

" The jacket," he explained, before repeating, "Are you cold?"

Having ignored the oppressive heat of the coat since she had left the suite, Elphaba had almost forgotten she was wearing it. She shook her head, unable to keep a slight smile off her face. " Galinda made me wear this dress, and…"

" I most certainly did! It does look fantabulous on her by the way." The blonde piped up, hardly bothering to look up from her magazine as she scribbled furiously inside, a pained expression upon her face.

Elphaba felt her face flush, and she sunk lower into the cushion she sat on. Silence lapsed once more.

She did wish Fiyero would do up his shirt and stop tormenting her.


End file.
